Torpedo-setting device.



P. BEATTIE. TORPEDO SETTING DEVICE.

(Application filed Feb. 8, 1902.)

(No Model.)

Patented July 15, I902;

4 Sheets-Shae! i.

Witnesses.

No. 704,499. Patented July I5, 1902. P. BEATTIE:

TOBPEDO SETTING DEVICE.

(Application filed Feb. 8, 1902.)

4 Sheets8heet 2.

(No Hodal.)

W itnesses.

r NORRIS PETERS Pnomump. wAsHncmon. n. c

No. 704,499. Patented July l5, I902.

-P. BEATTIE.

TORPEDO SETTING DEVICE.

(Application filed Feb. 8, 1902.

4 Sheets-8heet 3.

(No Mm Inventor.

Witnesses;

Attorney.

THE "cums virus 60. FRCWOAZTHOU Patented July l5, I902 TUBPEDU SETTING DEVICE.

(Application filed Feb. 8, 1902.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

'I nvntor.

ttorney.

W1tnesses 0. 6

THE annals PETERS cu, mow-mm WASNINGYON, a. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER BEATTIE, OF LEETE ISLAND, CONNECTICUT.

TORPEDO-SETTING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 704,499, dated July 15, 1902.

Application filed February 8,1902. Serial No. 93,207. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, PETER BEATTIE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Leete Island, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Torpedo-Setting Devices, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in torpedo-settingdevioes of that class which antomatically place a torpedo upon the car-rail.

The object of my invention, among other things, is to provide mechanism which will be wholly automatic and positive in its operation and in which torpedoes can be readily inserted or removed, and again to so arrange the. parts that either one torpedo or several successively can be placed on the rail without a resetting thereof.

To these and other ends my invention consists in the torpedosetting device having certain details of construction and combination of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which like numerals designate like parts in the several figures, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device. Fig. 2 is an end View thereof. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the torpedo-disk. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation showing the mechanism for intermittently rotating the spring-shaft. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the dog and its carrier. Fig. 6 is a modified construction arranged to place but one torpedo upon the rail. Fig. 7 is an end view thereof. Fig. 8 is a fragmentary end view of one of the stop-arms; and Fig. 9 is a sectional view of the dog-carrier, stop-arms, and ratchet-disk upon line A B of Fig. 6.

In the drawings the numeral 1 designates a car-rail; 2, a plate secured upon the under side'thereof in any preferred manner and to which the several parts of my device are separably attached; 3, a U-shaped bracket secured to the plate 2; 4, a spring-shaft journaled at either end in the bracket 3 and having fixed thereon a coil-spring 5, one end of which is made fast to apin 6 in said bracket 3.

Fastened upon the spring-shaft 4c is a torpedo-disk 7, having means thereon whereby the torpedoes can be yieldingly secured thereto. As herein shown, these means consist of plates 8, having bolts 9 passing therethrough and through said disk and having a washer 10 and nut 11 on the end thereof, a coil-spring 12 being inserted between said collar 10 and the backof the disk.

The torpedo designated as 14 is attached to one end of a spring-bar 13, the other end of which is bent at a right angle, as at 16, and inserted within the recesses 15 in the disk 7. This method of connecting the springbars 13 to the disk 7 permits the said bars to be sprung laterally from the face of the disk 7 against the action of the coil-springs 12, the ends 16 thereof holding them against displacement radially. Any means of connecting the torpedo with the disk 7 other than that herein shown may be used if desired within my invention. The spring-bars 13, being of light and inexpensive material, may

be attached permanently to the torpedo if desired, and as they are readily disengaged from the disk 7 can be thrown away and replaced by a new bar after the torpedo has exploded.

Concentric with the springshaft 4 is a guide-bar 1'7, which is bent so as to permit the spring-bar, which rides against it, to have a lateral movement during its rotation, Whereby the said torpedo is placed on the rail and removed therefrom by the rotation of the car rier-disk 7. This guide bar is preferably formed of a single piece of metal bent as shown in the drawings and attached at both ends by the bolts 19 19 to the bracket 13 and to the rail 1 at its upper end by the screws 18, which pass through the inclosing sleeve 20 and to the plate 2 by screws 21, which pass through the inclosing sleeve 22.

Fixed to the spring-shaft 4 is the ratchetdisk 23, having a plurality of teeth 24, corresponding in number to the number of torpedoes which the device is intended to carry-- in this case three. These teeth are arranged so as to be directly opposite the spring-bars 13.

Pivotally mounted between the ears is the pawl 26, one end of which is held in engagement with the periphery of the disk 23 by the spring 28 and to the other end of which is loosely secured the bottom end of the triprod 27, which passes up through the rail and ICO projects slightly above the top thereof when the pawl is in engagement with one of the notches 24.

The numeral 29 designates the dog-carrier, which straddles the disk 23 and is rotatably mounted upon the spring-shaft 4, and pivotally secured thereto is the dog 30, having a transverse pawl-finger 31 thereon, which is normally held against the periphery of the disk 23 and in the notches 24 by the spring 32. A notch is cut in the pawl 26 to receive the pawl-finger 31 when the same is in engagement with one of the notches 24, whereby both may be in engagement with the same notch at one and the same time, the pawl-finger 31 resting upon the projecting lip upon said pawl 26.

Fastened to the under side of the plate 2 is the clip 33, the spring-arms 34 of which are provided with lugs 35, arranged so as to engage the recesses 36 in the arms of the dog 30. This device is connected with and set automatically from the semaphore by means of the link 37, pivotally connected at its upper end with the dog-carrier 29 and having a wire 38 fastened to its lower end, which is connect ed with the semaphore and passes under the sheave-wheel 39, pivotally mounted in the yoke-bolt 40, fastened to the end of the bar 41, which is secured to the bracket 13.

The operation of my device is as follows: \Vhen the track is clear and the semaphore down, the dog-carrier 29 is held against the stop 52 on the bracket 13 by the rope 38 in the position shown by the broken lines in Fig. 4. 'When in this position, the pawl-finger 31 is in engagement with one of the notches 24, and the pawl 26 is held against the periphery of the disk 23 by the spring 28, and the triprod 27 is drawn down, so that its upper end is flush with the top of the rail. As the springbars 13, having the torpedo connected therewith, are opposite the notches 24, the track is free from torpedoes when the track is clear and the semaphore is down. When the somaphoreis up and set to show that the trackis not clear, a torpedois automatically placed on the rail by my device in the following manner: The wire 38 is slackened by the movement of the semaphore, and the coil-spring5 by its unwinding rotates the shaft 4 and disk 23 until the pawl 26 enters one of the notches 24 and holds the ratchet-disk against further rotation. As the pawl enters one of the notches 24 the end of the trip-rod 2'7 is elevated above the top of the rail. The movement of the disk 23 from the position it will occupy when the semaphore is down to that when the semaphore is up, Fig. 4 causes the torpedo-disk 7 to rotate and a torpedo is placed upon the rail, as shown in Fig. 2, it being conducted to this position by the engagement of the spring-bar 13 with the guidebar 17. The relative position of the parts when a torpedo is upon the rail is shown in Fig. 4. After the wheel has passed over and exploded the torpedo it engages the end of the trip-rod 27, and by depressing the same the pawl 26 is lifted out of engagement with the notch in the ratchet-disk. The movement of the pawl 26 also lifts the dog 30 out of engagement with the ratchet-disk, which is caught in the clip 33 between the spring-arms 34 by the lugs 35 entering the recesses 36 in the sides of the dog, thus holding the dog from engagement with the ratchet-disk until again released. The ratchet-disk 23 is now free, and the coilspring 5 by its rotation of the shaft 4 revolves the ratchet-disk 23 and torpedo-disk 7 until the pawl 26 enters and is held in the next notch 24 by the spring 28, thereby placing a new torpedo in position over the rail,as before described, and again elevating the end of the trip-rod 27 abovethe top of the rail. During this operation the exploded torpedo or the parts remaining therefrom move from the rail by the contact of the spring-bar with the guide-bar 17. This new torpedo is now ready to be exploded by the next wheel that engages it, which also depresses the trip-bar 27 as before. These operations are continued until all of the torpedoes, in this case three, have been exploded, which number is deemed sufficient to warn an engineer of danger, so that if perchance one should not explode or he should for any reason fail to hear it there would still be two torpedoes to warn him. The device is again loaded by removing the old spring-bars 13 from the torpedo-disk 7 and substituting new ones therefor, at the same time revolving the disk 7 in the reverse direction, which again winds the spring 5 and holds the shaft 4 under a spring tension. The dog 30 is then manually released from the clip 33, and the spring 32 holds it against the periphery of the disk 23. As the semaphore is again set to show a clear track the parts are returned to the position shown by broken lines inFig. 4.

The device just described is arranged for placing three torpedoes successively without changing the semaphore; but with slight modifications it can be arranged so that only a single torpedo will be set upon the rails and the semaphore be changed three times without reloading the device. The modifications necessary to carry out this end are shown in Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9, wherein both sides of the disk 23 are provided with a circular groove 42, havingstop-pins 43 therein correspondingin number to the number of teeth in the said disk. The dog-carrier 29 has an offset 44 thereon cut away upon one side to form an inclined face Fixed upon either side of the carrier 29 are the stop-arms 46 47, having inwardlyturned stop-fingers 48, which are beveled, as shown in Fig. 9. The stop-arm 46 projects downwardly parallel with the side of the disk 23 and is secured to the bracket 3, and the stop-arm 47 is secured to the collar 49 by pins 50, the said collar 49 being secured to the bracket 3 by screws 51. The clip 33 is not necessary in this modification and is therefore re- It is apparent from the previous demoved.

scription that with the parts as shown in Fig. 6 the semaphore is up and an unexploded torpedo is upon the rail. After this torpedo is exploded and the car-wheel passes over the end of the trip-rod 27 the pawl 26 and the pawl-finger 31 are released from the notch 24 and the coil-spring 5 causes the shaft 4 to revolve until one of the stop-pins 43 is brought up against the stop-fingers 48, which project into the grooves 42, when all of the parts are held rigid. When the parts are in this position, there is no torpedo upon the rail and the pawl 26 is resting upon the periphery of the disk 23 and the upper end of the trip-rod 27 is flush with the top of the rail. By dropping the semaphore the dog-carrier 29 is drawn down to the position shown by broken lines in Fig. 6, and during this operation the inclined faces 45 engage the beveled faces of the fingers 48 and spring the said fingers outwardly, releasing them from the pins 43, freeing the ratchet-disk, and the spring 5 again rotates the shaft 4 and disk 23 until the pawl-finger 31 engages and is held in the next notch by the spring 32, when the parts are held rigid. When the semaphore is raised, the ratchetdisk 23 is released, and it again revolves until the pawl 26 retards its further progress by entering one of the notches 24. This last rotation of the shaft 4 and disk 7 carries a new torpedo onto the rail, which is exploded, and the operations are continued as before until all three of the torpedoes have been exploded, when the device is reloaded.

It is immaterial to the operation of this device whether the wheel explodes the torpedo before it engages the rod 27 or after as the distance between the two parts is so short that but comparatively little movement of the torpedo could be had before the wheel engages it if the said rod were placed in front of the torpedo rather than back of it.

This device can be arranged to work horizontally as well as vertically, as herein described, and is preferably inclosed in a case, the design and construction of which are not essential to my invention.

There are minor changes and alterations that can be made within my invention aside from those herein shown, and I do not, therefore, limit myself to such changes and alterations, but claim all that falls fairly within the spirit and scope of my inventian.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a torpedo-carrier; of one or more torpedoes connected therewith; means for intermittently rotating said carrier, said means being controlled by the movement of a car-wheel over the rail; and means whereby the said torpedoes will move in a path at substantially a right angle to said torpedocarrier during the rotation thereof.

2. The combination with an intermittentlyrotatable shaft having a plurality of stopshoulders connected therewith; a pawl member arranged to engage said stop-shoulders;

means for disengaging said pawl member from said stop-shoulders, said means being arranged so as to be actuated by the car-wheel; and a torpedo-carrier connected with said shaft.

3. The combination with a torpedo-carrier having torpedoes secured thereto; of a shaft having stop-shoulders connected therewith; a pawl member adapted to engage the said stop-shoulders and hold the said shaft against movement, the stop-shoulders being so arranged relatively to said torpedoes that when engaged by said pawlmember a torpedo will be upon the car-rail; and a pawl-releasing member connected at one end with said pawl member, the other end of which projects into the path of the car-wheel and is actuated thereby.

4. The combination with a torpedo-carrier having torpedoes secured thereto; of a shaft having stop-shoulders connected therewith; a pawl member adapted to engage said stopshoulders and hold the said shaft against movement, said stop-shoulders being so arranged relatively to said torpedoes that when engaged by said pawl member a torpedo will be upon the car-rail; mechanism for disengaging said pawl member from said stepshoulders, said mechanism comprising a part connected with said pawl member and projecting into the path of movement of the carwheel; and means for rotating said shaft when said pawl member is disengaged.

5. The combination with the torpedo-carrier; of a shaft having stop-shoulders connected therewith; a pawl member movable in and out of the path of said stop-shoulders for limiting the movement of said shaft in one direction; a dog adapted to engage said stopshoulders; a connection between said dog and the semaphore whereby the movement of said semaphore will impart movement to said torpedo-carrier.

6. The combination with the torpedo-carrier; of a shaft having stop-shoulders connected therewith; spring mechanism for rotating said shaft, a pawl member movable in and out of the path of said stop-shoulders, and

adapted to hold said shaft against movement in one direction; a dog adapted to engage said stop-shoulders and having connection with the semaphore whereby the shaft will be rotated against the action of said spring mechanism and the stop-shoulder with which said pawl member is engaged will be moved away from said pawl member by the movement of said semaphore in one direction.

7. The combination with the torpedo-carrier; of a shaft having stop-shoulders connected therewith; a pawl member movable in and out of the path of said stop-shoulders; a dog adapted to engage said stop-shoulders and having connection with the semaphore whereby the stop-shoulder with which said pawl member is engaged will be moved away from said pawl member by the movement of said semaphore in one direction; and means for rotating said shaftwhereby the said stopshoulder will again engage said pawl member when the semaphore is moved in the opposite direction.

8. The combination with the torpedo-carrier; of a shaft having stop-shoulders connected therewith; a pawl member movable in and out of the path of said stop-shoulders; a dog adapted to engage said stop-shoulder, said pawl member and dog being so arranged that both engage the same stop-shoulder at one and the same time.

9. The combination with the torpedo-carrier; of a shaft having stop-shoulders connected therewith; a pawl member movable in and out of the path of said stop-shoulders; a

dog adapted to engage said stop-shoulders, said pawl member and dog being so arranged that both engage the same stop-shoulder at one and the same time; and means for disengaging said pawl member and dog from said stop-shoulders.

10. The combination withatorpedo-carrier; of a shaft having stop-shoulders connected therewith; a pawl member having a projectinglip thereon,movable in and out of the path of said stop-shoulders; a dog adapted to engage said stop-shoulder and while so engaged to rest upon said projecting lip; and means for disengaging said pawl member and dog from said stop-shoulders.

11. The combination with the torpedo-carrier; of a shaft having stop-shoulders connected therewith; a pawl member movable in and out of the path of said stop-shoulders; a dog-carrier movable about said shaft; a, dog pivotally mounted on said dog-carrier and adapted to engage the said stop-shoulders; and a connection between said dog-carrier and the semaphore for moving said dog-carrier and dog in one direction.

12. The combination with a torpedo-carrier; of a shaft having stop-shoulders connected therewith; a pawl member movable in and out of the path of said stop-shoulders; a dog adapted to engage said stop-shoulder; means for disengaging said pawl member and dog from said stop-shoulders; and means for rigidly holding said dog out of engagement with said stop-shoulders.

13. The combination with atorpedo-carrier; of a shaft having stop-shoulders connected therewith; a pawl member movable in and out of the path of said stop-shoulders; a dog adapted to engage said stop-shoulder; means for disengaging said pawl member and dog from said stop-shoulders; and a spring-clip for engaging and retaining said dog after the same has been disengaged from said stopshoulder.

14. The combination with the shaft; of a ratchet-disk fixed thereto; a pawl member; a triprod for actuating said pawl member; a dog-carrier rotatably mounted upon said shaft; a dog pivotally secured to said dog-carrier and normally bearing against said ratchetdisk; a torpedo-carrier fixed to said shaft;

and means for intermittentlyrotating said shaft. 1

15. The combination with the shaft; of a ratchet-disk fixed thereto; a pawl member; 'a trip-rod for actuating said pawl member; a dogcarrier rotatably mounted upon said shaft; a dog pivotally secured to said dogcarrier and normally bearing against said ratchet-disk; a torpedo-carrier fixed to said shaft; a spring connected with said shaft for rotating the same; and a spring-clip to retain and hold said dog when disengaged from said ratchet-disk.

16. The combination with a spring-rotated shaft; of atorpedomarrier having a plurality of torpedoes flexibly connected therewith; and a guide-bar for imparting a movement to said torpedoes during their rotation at a right angle to the path of movement of said carrier.

17. The combination with the shaft; of a ratchet-disk fixed thereto; a pawl member; a trip-rod for actuating said pawl member; a dogcarrier rotatably mounted upon said shaft; a dog pivotally secured to said dogcarrier and normally bearing against said ratchet-disk; a torpedo-carrier fixed to said shaft; means for intermittently rotating said shaft; and a guide-bar concentric with said shaft for moving said torpedoes laterally during their rotation.

18. The combination with the torpedo-disk having a recess in the face thereof; of a torpedo spring-bar, one end of which is angularly bent and inserted Within said recess; and means for yieldingl y securing said springbar laterally, said means comprising a plate, a rod passing therethrough and a spring for drawing said rod in one direction.

19. The combination with the shaft; of a ratchet-disk fixed thereon and'having fixed stops upon the side thereof; a yielding stoparm normally in the path of said stops; and movable wedge means for disengaging said stop-arms from said stops.

20. The combination with the shaft; of the ratchet-disk having fixed stops upon the side thereof; rigid spring-arms in the path of said stops; a rotatable member which engages said spring-arms and disengages the same from said stops; and means for rotating said rotatable member.

21. The combination with the shaft; of the ratchet-disk having fixed stops upon the side thereof; a rigid spring-arm in the path of said stops; a dog-carrier having a dog connected therewith which engages the teeth of said ratchet-disk, said carrier having a beveled part thereon which engages said spring-arm and moves the same away from said stops.

22. The combination with the shaft; of a ratchet-disk fixed thereon and having a circular recess in either side thereof with fixed stops therein; rigid spring arms having spring-fingers which enter said recesses and engage said stops; and a rotatable member having a beveled face thereon which engages said spring-fingers during its rotation and forces the same out of said recesses and out of the path of said stops.

23. The combination with a ear-rail; of a bracket secured to the under side thereof; a shaft journaled in said bracket and at substantially a right angle to said car-rail; a spring for actuating said shaft; a ratchet-disk and cooperating pawl for limiting the move- 10 ment of said shaft; a torpedo-carrier fixed to said shaft having flexible torpedo-bars connected therewith; and a guide-bar for determining the lateral movement of said torpedobars.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

PETER BEATTIE. Witnesses:

GEORGE E. HALL, J. PETER DEJON. 

